Display method of exchanging messages among users in a group

ABSTRACT

The display method executed by a terminal including setting a first user name of the first user on the terminal, displaying the first user name and a second user name of the second user in a display area of the terminal based on a first input on the terminal, deleting the displayed second user name from the display area of the terminal based on a second input constituting at least a portion of the set first user name being inputted into the terminal, the displayed second user name being different from the set first user name, based on a second input constituting a part of the first user name, displaying first information representing that a message is destined for the first user, based on a selection of the first user by the user of the terminal, and transmitting the message including the first information to the terminals may be provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This U.S. non-provisional application is a continuation application of,and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 365(c) from,International Application PCT/JP2017/025426 filed on Jul. 12, 2017, anddesignated the U.S., which is based upon and claims the benefit ofpriority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-176635 filed on Sep. 9,2016, the entire contents both of which are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to non-transitory computer readablerecording mediums on which a computer program is recorded, informationprocessing methods, and/or information processing terminals.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, in a Social Network Service (SNS) (alternatively,referred to as Social Media), a mention function (alternatively,referred to as a comment function) for transmitting a posting whiledesignating a user by whom the sender wants the posting to be viewed.

According to a conventional example of a mention function(alternatively, referred to as a comment function) provided by amessaging service included in an SNS service, when a user name is inputfollowing “@”, the posting may be notified to a user account of theinputted user name.

However, conventional mention functions does not take into account acase in which contents are being transmitted and received in a groupthat includes three or more users.

SUMMARY

According to an example embodiment of the present inventive concepts, adisplay method executed by a terminal that is configured to transmit andreceive a message with a plurality of terminals, the plurality ofterminals including at least a first terminal of a first user and asecond terminal of a second user may be disclosed. The display methodmay include setting, by using a processor of the terminal, a first username of the first user on the terminal, displaying by using theprocessor of the terminal, the set first user name and a second username of the second user in a display area of the terminal, in responseto a first input being inputted into the terminal, deleting by using theprocessor of the terminal, the displayed second user name from thedisplay area of the terminal based on a second input constituting atleast a portion of the set first user name being inputted into theterminal, the displayed second user name being different form the setfirst user name, displaying, by using the processor of the terminal,first information representing that a first message is directed to thefirst user, in response to a user of the terminal selecting the firstuser corresponding to the displayed first user name, and transmitting,by using the processor of the terminal, the first message including thefirst information to the plurality of terminals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a communicationsystem according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sequence of processesof a communication system, according to a first example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processes executed by aterminal for transmitting a mentioned content, according to the firstexample embodiment;

FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display on aterminal when transmitting a mentioned content;

FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display on aterminal when transmitting a mentioned content;

FIG. 4C is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display on aterminal when transmitting a mentioned content;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of talk room information;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of a screen displaywhen displaying a list of candidates for the destination user of amention, found based on an input character string;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another example of a screen displaywhen displaying a list of candidates for the destination user of amention, searched based on an input character string;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processes executed by aterminal when receiving a mentioned content according to the firstexample embodiment;

FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display on aterminal when displaying a received mentioned content;

FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display on aterminal when displaying a received mentioned content;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sequence of processesin a communication system according to a second example embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processes executed bya terminal when transmitting a mentioned content according to the secondexample embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processes executed bya terminal when receiving a mentioned content according to the secondexample embodiment;

FIG. 13A is a diagram illustrating another example of a screen displayon a terminal when displaying a received mentioned content;

FIG. 13B is a diagram illustrating another example of a screen displayon a terminal when displaying a received mentioned content;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of anadditional content; and

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen offiltering.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

<Observance of Confidentiality of Communication>

Note that when implementing the inventive concepts described in thisdisclosure, it should be implemented with observance of legal mattersrelating to confidentiality of communication.

Some example embodiments of the present inventive concepts will bedescribed with reference to the drawings.

According to the disclosed example embodiment, it is possible to allow apredetermined (or alternatively desired) user included in a group toview a predetermined (or alternatively desired) content when contentsare being transmitted and received in the group that includes multipleusers.

<System Configuration>

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a communicationsystem 1 according to an example embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1,the communication system has servers 10A and server 10B (collectivelyreferred to as servers 10, or individually referred to as server 10) andterminals terminal 20A, terminal 20B, and terminal 20C (collectivelyreferred to as terminals 20, or individually referred to as terminal 20)connected via a network 2. The server 10 may provide a service forrealizing transmission and reception of messages between the terminals20 owned by a certain user via the network 2. However, the number ofterminals 20 connected to the network 2 is not limited.

The network 2 plays a role of connecting one or more terminals 20 withone or more servers 10. In other words, the network 2 refers to acommunication network that provides a connection path through which aterminal 20 can transmit and receive data by being connected to a server10.

For example, one or more portions of the network 2 may be a wirednetwork and/or a wireless network. The network 2 may include an ad hocnetwork, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), alocal area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network(WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a partof the Internet, a part of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), amobile phone network, integrated service digital networks (ISDNs),wireless LANs, long term evolution (LTE), code division multiple access(CDMA), Bluetooth (registered trademark), satellite communication, orone or more combinations thereof. However, in the present invention, thenetwork 2 is not limited thereto. Further, the network 2 may include oneor more different types of networks.

The terminal 20 (terminal 20A, terminal 20B, or terminal 20C) may be anyterminal as long as it can implement functions described in the exampleembodiments. The terminal 20 may be a smart phone, a mobile phone (e.g.,a feature phone), a computer (e.g., a desktop-type, a laptop-type, or atablet-type), a media computer platform (e.g., a cable/satellite TV settop box or a digital video recorder), a handheld computing device (e.g.,a PDA (personal digital assistant) or an e-mail client), a wearableterminal (a glasses-type device or a watch-type device), or any othertype of a computer or a communication platform. However, in the presentinventive concepts, the terminal 20 is not limited thereto. The terminal20 may be expressed as an information processing terminal.

Because configurations of the terminal 20A, the terminal 20B, and theterminal 20C are the same as or substantially similar to each other, inthe following description, any of these may be referred to as theterminal 20, and when desired, the terminal 20A may be referred to asthe host terminal 20A, the terminal 20B may be referred to as anotherterminal 20B, and the terminal 20C may be referred to as yet anotherterminal 20C.

The server 10 has a function of providing a predetermined (oralternatively desired) service to the terminal 20. The server 10 may beany type of information processing apparatus as long as it can implementfunctions described in the example embodiments. The server 10 mayinclude a server device, and may be implanted by a computer (e.g., adesktop-type, a laptop-type, or a tablet-type), a media computerplatform (e.g., a cable/satellite TV set top box or a digital videorecorder), a handheld computing device (e.g., a PDA (personal digitalassistant) or an e-mail client), or any other type of a computer or acommunication platform. However, in the present inventive concepts, theserver 10 is not limited thereto. The server 10 may be expressed as aninformation processing apparatus.

<Hardware (HW) Configuration>

Referring to FIG. 1, HW configuration of each device included in thecommunication system will be described.

(1) HW Configuration of Terminal

The terminal 20 includes a control device (e.g., CPU (Central ProcessingUnit)) 207, a storage device 208, a communication I/F (e.g.,communication interface) 201, an input/output device 202, a displaydevice 203, a microphone 204, a speaker 205, and a camera 206. Theelements of the HW of the terminal 20 are connected to each other, forexample, via a bus B.

The communication I/F 201 may transmit and receive various items of datavia the network 2. The communication may be executed by wire or byradio, and any communication protocol may be used as long as mutualcommunication can be executed. The communication I/F 201 may have afunction of executing communication with the server 10 via the network2. The communication I/F 201 may transmit various items of data to theserver 10 according to an instruction from the control device 207.Further, the communication I/F 201 may receive various items of datatransmitted from the server 10, and transmit the data to the controldevice 207.

The input/output device 202 may include a device for inputting variousoperations on the terminal 20 and a device for outputting processingresults processed by the terminal 20. The input/output device 202 mayinclude the input device and the output device in an integrated manner,or separately.

The input device may be implemented by any device or a combination ofdevices that can receive input from the user and can transmitinformation related to the input to the control device 207. For example,the input device may be implemented by a touch panel that is capable ofdetecting (1) a contact by a pointer (e.g., a finger of the user or astylus) and (2) the contact position, and transmitting the coordinatesof the contact position to the control device 207. Meanwhile, the inputdevice may be implemented by an input device other than the touch panel.The input device includes, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device(e.g., a mouse), a camera (an operation input of which is movingimages), or a microphone (an operation input of which is voice).However, in the present inventive concepts, the input device is notlimited to these.

The output device may be implemented by any device or a combination ofdevices capable of outputting results processed by the control device207. For example, the output device may be implemented by a touch panel.Meanwhile, the output device may be implemented by an output deviceother than a touch panel. For example, the output device may include aspeaker (an operation output of which is an audio sound), a lens (anoperation output of which is a 3D (three dimensional) image or ahologram image), or a printer, and the like may be included. However, inthe present inventive concepts, the output device is not limited tothese.

The display device 203 may be implemented by any device or a combinationof devices that can execute displaying according to display data writtenin a frame buffer. The display device 203 may include a monitor (e.g., aliquid crystal display or an OELD (organic electroluminescencedisplay)). The display device 203 may be a head-mounted display (HDM).In some example embodiments, the display device 203 may be implementedby a projection mapping device, a hologram device, or a device that iscapable of displaying images, text information, and the like in the airor the like (which may be a vacuum). The display devices 203 may becapable of displaying display data in 3D. However, in the presentinventive concepts, the display device 203 is not limited to these.

In the case where the input/output device 202 is a touch panel, theinput/output device 202 and the display device 203 may have the same orsubstantially similar size and/or shape to be arranged to face eachother.

The control device 207 may be a circuit that is physically structured toexecute functions that are implemented by codes or instructions includedin a program. The control device 207 may be implemented by, for example,a data processing device built as hardware.

The control device 207 may include a central processing unit (CPU), amicroprocessor, a processor core, multiprocessors, an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit), or an FPGA (fieldprogrammable gate array). However, in the present inventive concepts,the control device 207 is not limited to these.

The storage device 208 has a function of storing various programs and/orvarious items of data for operating the terminal 20. The storage device208 may be implemented by various storage media such as an HDD (harddisk drive), an SSD (solid state drive), a flash memory, a RAM (randomaccess memory), and/or a ROM (read-only memory). However, in the presentinventive concepts, the storage device 208 is not limited to these.

In the terminal 20, a program P is stored in the storage device 208, andthe control device 207 running the program P may include respectivefunctional units for executing corresponding processes. In other words,the program P stored in the storage device 208 may realize the functionsby being executed by the control device 207 on the terminal 20.

The microphone 204 may be used for inputting audio data. The speaker 205may be used for outputting audio data. The camera 206 may be used forobtaining data of moving images.

(2) HW Configuration of Server

The server 10 may include a control device (CPU) 104, a storage device105, a communication I/F (interface) 103, an input/output device 101,and a display 102. The elements of the HW of the server 10 may beconnected, for example, via a bus B.

The control device 104 may have a circuit that is physically structuredto execute functions that are implemented by codes or instructionsincluded in a program. The control device 104 may be implemented by, forexample, a data processing device built as hardware.

The control device 104 may be a central processing unit (CPU), amicroprocessor, a processor core, multiprocessors, an ASIC, or an FPGA.However, in the present inventive concepts, the control device 104 isnot limited thereto.

The storage device 105 may have a function of storing various programsand various items of data for operating the server 10. The storagedevice 105 may be implemented by various storage media such as an HDD,an SSD, or a flash memory. However, in the present inventive concepts,the storage device 105 is not limited to these.

The communication I/F 103 may transmit and receive various items of datavia the network 2. The communication may be executed by wire or byradio, and any communication protocol may be used as long as mutualcommunication can be executed. The communication I/F 103 may have afunction of executing communication with the terminal 20 via the network2. The communication I/F 103 may transmit various items of data to theterminal 20 according to an instruction from the control device 104.Further, the communication I/F 103 may receive various items of datatransmitted from the terminal 20, and transmit the data to the controldevice 104.

The input/output device 101 may be implemented by a device (or devices)that inputs various operations on the server 10. The input/output device101 may be implemented by any one of devices or a combination of devicesthat can receive input from the user and can transmit informationrelated to the input to the control device 104. The input/output device101 may be implemented by hardware keys (e.g., a keyboard) or a pointingdevice (e.g., a mouse). Note that the input/output device 101 mayinclude, for example, a touch panel, a camera (an operation input ofwhich is a still or moving image), and a microphone (an operation inputof which is voice). However, in the present inventive concepts, theinput/output device 101 is not limited thereto.

The display 102 may be implemented by a monitor (e.g., a liquid crystaldisplay or an OELD (organic electroluminescence display)). In someexample embodiments, the display 102 may be a head-mounted display(HDM). The display 102 may be a device that is capable of displayingdisplay data in 3D. However, in the present inventive concepts, thedisplay 102 is not limited thereto.

In the server 10, the program P may be stored in the storage device 105,and the control device 104 running this program P may include functionalunits that are capable of executing processes corresponding thereto. Inother words, the program P stored in the storage device 105 may realizethe functions by being executed by the control device 104 on the server10.

The example embodiment in the present disclosure will be describedassuming that one or more display method are implemented by the CPU(s)of the terminal 20 and/or the server 10 executing the program P.

The control device 207 of the terminal 20 and/or the control device 104of the server 10 may be implemented not only by a CPU but also by alogic circuit (hardware) or a dedicated circuit in a form of anintegrated circuit (IC) chip or an LSI (Large Scale Integration) chip.The circuits may be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, andmultiple processes described in the example embodiments may beimplemented by a single integrated circuit. An LSI may also be referredto as a VLSI, a super LSI, an ultra LSI, or the like depending on thedegree of integration.

Also, the program P (software program/computer program) of the exampleembodiments in the present disclosure may be provided in a state storedin a computer-readable recording medium. The recording medium can storethe program in a “non-transitory computer-readable tangible medium”.

When appropriate, the recording medium may include one or moresemiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) such as fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs); a hard disk drive (HDD), a hybrid hard drive (HHD), anoptical disk, an optical disk drive (ODD), a magneto-optical disk, amagneto-optical drive, a floppy diskette, a floppy disk drive (FDD), amagnetic tape, a solid state drive (SSD), a RAM drive, a secure digitalcard or drive, any other suitable recording medium, or any suitablecombination of two or more of these. When appropriate, the recordingmedium may be volatile, non-volatile, or may have a combination ofvolatility and non-volatility. Note that the recording medium is notlimited to these examples, and may be any device or medium as long as itcan store the program P.

The server 10 and/or the terminal 20, for example, can read the programP stored in the recording medium and execute the read program P torealize the functions of multiple functional units described in thedisclosed example embodiment.

Also, the program P in the present disclosure may be provided to theserver 10 or the terminal 20 via any transmission medium (e.g., acommunication network or a broadcasting wave) that is capable oftransmitting the program P. The server 10 and/or the terminal 20 mayrealize functions of multiple functional units described in thedisclosed example embodiments by executing the program P downloaded via,for example, the Internet.

Some example embodiment of the present inventive concepts can also beimplemented in a form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave inwhich the program P is embodied by electronic transmission. The programin the present disclosure can be implemented by using a script language(e.g., ActionScript or JavaScript (registered trademark)), anobject-oriented programming language (e.g., Objective-C or Java(registered trademark)) and a markup language (e.g., HTML5). However,the present inventive concepts is not limited thereto.

First Example Embodiment

The first example embodiment has a form in which multiple users in atalk room perform mentioning to transmit contents.

Here, the talk room may be provided as a service menu by an SNSgenerated for exchanging contents (e.g., messages, stamps, still images,or moving images) among users of the SNS. In the talk room, multipleusers may be registered. The talk room may be referred to as a chatgroup or as a talk information session.

Also, “mentioning” means adding information to a predetermined (oralternatively desired) content, more particularly adding the informationby a user included in the talk room, and designating the information toanother user included in the talk room and wanted by the one user tovisually recognize the content with relative ease.

Also, the mentioned content means the content as to which a destinationuser (or alternatively, referred to as an intended user throughout thisdisclosure) is designated by the one user.

The matter described in the first example embodiment can be applied toany of the other example embodiments.

<Functional Configuration>

(1) Functional Configuration of Terminal

A functional configuration of the terminal 20 will be described by usingFIG. 1. The terminal 20 may include functional units (or may beimplemented by hardware components) such as an SNS processor 210, acandidate processor 220, a receiver 230, a communicator 240, and amention processor 250. These functions are implemented by reading andexecuting one or more programs stored in the storage device 208 by thecontrol device 207.

The SNS processor 210 may execute various processes that use themessaging service of the SNS provided by the server 10. For example, ina talk room, the SNS processor 210 may transmit and receive contents(e.g., character string messages, stamps, or images), with otherterminals 20 via the server 10. In this talk room, transmitted andreceived contents may be displayed in order of transmission andreception (so as to be arranged in chronological order). For example, anolder content may be displayed on the upper part of the screen and anewer content may be displayed on the lower part of the screen. Whencontent is transmitted and received, for example, the content may bedisplayed in association with a user icon that represents a user as thetransmitter of the content.

The candidate processor 220 may search for candidates for thedestination user of a mention from among the users included in the talkroom, and display the found candidates on the screen of the talk room.

The receiver 230 may receive an operation from the user. The receiver230 may receive, for example, an operation to select a user as thedestination user of the mention from among the candidates displayed bythe candidate processor 220.

The communicator 240 may communicate with an external device such as theserver 10. For example, the communicator 240 may transmit and receivedata related to a mentioned content.

When information received by the communicator 240 represents the user ofthe host terminal 20, the mention processor 250 may display contentassociated with the information in a mode different from the mode forthe other contents on the screen of the talk room.

(2) Functional Configuration of Server

Referring to FIG. 1, functional configuration of the server 10 will bedescribed. The server 10 may include functional units (or may beimplemented by hardware components) such as a communication processor110 and an SNS processor 120. The functions of individual functionalunits may be implemented by reading and executing one or more programsstored in the storage device 105 by the control device 104 (e.g., CPU104 A).

The communication processor 110 may have a function of executingcommunication with each of the terminals 20 via the network 2. Thecommunication processor 110 may transmit various items of data to theterminal 20 according to a command from the SNS processor 120. Further,the communication processor 110 may receive various items of datatransmitted from the terminal 20 and transmit a notification to the SNSprocessor 120.

The SNS processor 120 may receive content (e.g., a message) directed toa user of a terminal 20, and transmit the content to the terminal 20 ofthe destination user.

The storage device 105 may store programs and various items ofinformation on the users of the SNS. For example, the storage device 105may store information on destination users of contents, and accountinformation on the terminals 20 of the users.

<Process>

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, processes in the communication system 1will be described according to the first example embodiment. FIG. 2 is adiagram illustrating an example of sequence of a processes in thecommunication system 1 according to the first example embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates an operation sequence in the case where a mention isused to transmit and receive contents by using a messaging service of anSNS, in a talk room including multiple users A, B, and C.

The following description assumes that the user A, the user B, and theuser C use the terminal 20A, the terminal 20B, and the terminal 20C,respectively.

At Operation S1, the receiver 230 of the terminal 20A may receive anoperation to activate the mention function from the user A.

At Operation S2, the candidate processor 220 of the terminal 20A maydisplay candidates for the destination user of the mention from amongthe users included in the talk room.

At Operation S3, the receiver 230 of the terminal 20A may receive anoperation to select the user B as the destination user of the mentionfrom the user A.

At Operation S4, the receiver 230 of the terminal 20A may receive anoperation to transmit the mentioned content from the user A.

At Operation S5, the communicator 240 of the terminal 20A may transmitthe mention to the talk room via the server 10.

At Operation S6, the mention processor 250 of the terminal 20C maydisplay the received mentioned content on the screen of the talk room.

At Operation S7, because the user B is designated as the destinationuser of the mention, the mention processor 250 of the terminal 20B maydisplay the received mentioned content on the screen of the talk room ina mode different from the mode for the other contents.

<<Processes Executed by Transmission Terminal 20 as a Transmitting Sidefor Transmitting Mentioned Content>>

Next, with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, processes executed by theterminal 20 for transmitting a mentioned content at Operations S1 to S4in FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating anexample of processes executed by the terminal 20 for transmitting amentioned content according to the first example embodiment. FIGS. 4Aand 4B are diagrams illustrating examples of screen displays on theterminal 20 when transmitting a mentioned content.

At Operation S101, the receiver 230 may receive an operation to startselecting a user as the destination of a mention. For example, when apredetermined (or alternatively desired) sign such as “@” (at sign) or apredetermined (or alternatively desired) character string is input intoa field for inputting content to be transmitted to the talk room, it isdetermined or regarded as the start or initiation of selecting a user asthe destination of the mention.

At Operation S102, the candidate processor 220 may determine whether ornot a character string has been input. Depending on presence or absenceof a predetermined (or alternatively desired) sign such as “@” in thefield for inputting content to be transmitted to the talk room, thecandidate processor 220 may determine whether or not a character stringhas been input.

If no character string has been input (NO at Operation S102), theprocess proceeds to Operation S103. On the other hand, if a characterstring has been input (YES at Operation S102), the process proceeds toOperation S104.

At Operation S103, the candidate processor 220 may refer to the talkroom information 260 included in the storage device 208 of the terminal20, and display the users included in the talk room as candidates forthe destination user of the mention, and proceed to a process ofOperation S106, which will be described later. The user of the hostterminal 20 may not be displayed as a candidate of the destination userof the mention.

FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display whenusers included in a talk room (more particularly, in the talk roominformation 260) is displayed as candidates for the destination user ofthe mention at Operation S103.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the talk room information260. The talk room information 260 may store information on other usersincluded in the talk room. The talk room information 260 may include,for example, items of user ID, user icon, registered name of a user, anddisplay name of a user as user information representing each user.

The user ID may be an ID of the user included in the talk room. The usericon may be an icon representing a user. The registered name of a usermay be a user name (account name) registered by a user in the SNSservice of the server 10.

The display name of a user may be a user name set by the user of thehost terminal 20 in association with the users 20. When a display nameis to be registered for a communication partner, for example, withreference to a telephone number registered in a telephone directory ofthe host terminal 20, a name of the communication partner registered inthe telephone directory of the host terminal 20 in association with thetelephone number may be used as the display name of the user.

In the example in FIG. 5, the user represented by the user icon 701 has“arisada” as the registered name of the user and has “ARISADA” as thedisplay name of the user. The user represented by the user icon 702 has“ARISA” as the registered name of the user and has “arisa” as thedisplay name of the user. The user represented by the user icon 703 has“arimi” as the registered name of the user and has “ARIMI” as thedisplay name of the user. The user represented by the user icon 704 has“tana” as the registered name of the user and has “TANAKA” as thedisplay name of the user.

When data as illustrated in FIG. 5 is stored in the talk roominformation 260, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, and when “@” (at sign) isinput into a field 501 for inputting content to be transmitted to thetalk room in a display area 502, the user icons 701, 702, 703, and 704of the other users included in the talk room may be displayed ascandidates for the destination user of a mention. The user icons 701,702, 703, and 704 may be displayed in any order (e.g., a descendingorder in terms of the number of transmissions of contents within apredetermined (or alternatively desired) time in the talk room, or adescending order in terms of the number of transmitted contentsmentioned in the talk room).

In the case where a character string is input on the display screen inFIG. 4A, the process may proceed to Operation S104.

At Operation S104, based on the input character string, the candidateprocessor 220 may search in the talk room information 260 for candidatesfor the destination user of a mention.

At Operation S105, the candidate processor 220 may display a list of thecandidates for a destination user as the search result.

FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display whendisplaying a list of candidates for the destination user of a mention,who have been found based on the input character strings at OperationS104 and Operation S105.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example in which “@” has been input into thefield 501 for inputting content to be transmitted to the talk room, anda character string “ari” is input immediately after “@”. In this case,users whose “registered name of the user” includes the character string“ari” are searched in the talk room information 260. In some exampleembodiments, if two leading character strings of a registered name of auser 20 have the same as the input character string (e.g., substring),the registered name of the user may be determined to include thesubstring. Then, in the display area 502, user icons of the found usersare displayed as candidates for the destination user of the mention. Forexample, in the case where data as illustrated in FIG. 5 is stored inthe talk room information 260, the user icons 701, 702, and 703 aredisplayed in the display area 502. In some example embodiments, theregistered name(s) of the found candidate user(s) or the display name(s)of the found candidate user(s) may be displayed in the display area 502in association with the user icon(s). This enables to distinguish thefound candidate user(s), for example, even when default icons are usedas the user icons and there are multiple users using the same user icon.

At Operation S106, the mention processor 250 determines whether or notan operation to select a user as the destination of the mention has beenreceived.

If an operation to select a user as the destination of the mention hasbeen received (YES at Operation S106), the process proceeds to OperationS107. On the other hand, if an operation to select a user as thedestination of the mention has not been received (NO at Operation S106),the process proceeds to Operation S108.

At Operation S107, the mention processor 250 may replace the user iconof the selected user as the destination of the mention with theidentification information of the selected user as the destination ofthe mention, which is to be included in the content to be transmitted,and add metadata indicating that the content is a mentioned content tothe content to be transmitted. For example, the user icon may bereplaced with a character string having a form of “@ (identificationinformation on the destination user).” In some example embodiments, apredetermined (or alternatively desired) tag may be added so as to berecognized as the identification information of the destination user.

Multiple users may be selected as the destination users of a mention.

FIG. 4C is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display whentransmitting the content mentioned at Operation S107.

In FIG. 4C, in the field 501 for inputting the content to be transmittedto the talk room, the user icon 701 of the destination user of themention may be displayed within the message input from the user of theterminal 20. This is because the user icon 701 has been selected as thedestination user of the mention by, for example, a tap operation fromamong the candidates for the destination user(s) of the mention that hasbeen displayed in the display area 502 in FIG. 4B at Operation S106.

At Operation S108, in response to receiving an operation to transmit thementioned content, the communicator 240 transmits the content to theterminals 20 of the other users included in the talk room via the server10.

According to the example embodiment, a user who transmits a mentionedcontent can transmit the content in which the destination user in thetalk room is highlighted, and thus the destination user can visuallyrecognize the content easily.

First Modified Example

In a first modified example, the destination user of a mention isdesignated by using the name of a communication partner registered in atelephone directory of the terminal 20A or a contact list of the SNS.

With reference to FIG. 6, a process of searching in the talk roominformation 260 for a user that satisfies the matching condition by the“display name of the user” (instead of “the registered name of the user”in the example embodiment of FIG. 4B) will be described. This processmay be executed at Operation S104 in FIG. 3 based on an input characterstring.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example (part 1) of a screendisplay when displaying a list of candidates for the destination user ofa mention, who have been found based on the input character string.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example in the case where “@” has been input intothe field 501 for inputting content to be transmitted to the talk room,and a character string “ARI” is input immediately after “@”. In thiscase, when data as illustrated in FIG. 5 is stored in the talk roominformation 260, users including the character string “ARI” in the“display name of the user” are searched in the talk room information260, and the user icons 701, 702, and 703 of the found users aredisplayed in the display area 502 as candidates for the destination userof the mention.

The user A of the host terminal 20A may designate the destination userof the mention by using the name of a communication partner registeredin the telephone directory of the host terminal 20A or the contact listof the SNS.

Second Modified Example

In a second modified example, the destination user of a mention may bedesignated by using the user name registered by the communicationpartner in the SNS service of the server 10, and the name of thecommunication partner registered in a telephone directory of theterminal 20A or a contact list of the SNS.

With reference to FIG. 7, a process of searching in the talk roominformation 260 for a user that satisfies the matching condition basedon the “registered name of the user” and the “display name of the user”will be described, which may be executed at Operation S104 in FIG. 3based on an input character string.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another example (part 2) of a screendisplay displaying a list of candidates for the destination user of amention, who have been found based on the input character string.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which “@” has been input into the field501 for inputting content to be transmitted to the talk room, which isthe same as or substantially similar to the example illustrated in FIG.4B, and a character string “ari” is input immediately after “@”. In thiscase, when data as illustrated in FIG. 5 is stored in the talk roominformation 260, users including the character string “ari” in the“registered name of the user” or in the “display name of the user” aresearched in the talk room information 260, and the user icons 701, 702,and 703 of the found users are displayed in the display area 502 ascandidates for the destination user of the mention.

<Process Executed by Terminal 20 when Receiving Mentioned Content>

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, FIG. 9A, and FIG. 9B, processes executedby the terminal 20 when displaying a received mentioned content atOperations S6 and S7 in FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchartillustrating an example of a process executed by the terminal 20 when amentioned content according to the first example embodiment is received.FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B are diagrams illustrating examples of screendisplays of the terminal 20 when displaying a received mentionedcontent.

At Operation S201, the mention processor 250 receives content in thetalk room.

At Operation S202, the mention processor 250 determines whether or notmetadata representing that the content has been mentioned is added tothe received content.

If added (YES at Operation S202), the process proceeds to OperationS203. On the other hand, if not added (NO at Operation S202), theprocess proceeds to Operation S206.

At Operation S203, the mention processor 250 determines whether theidentification information of the destination user of the mentionincluded in the received content matches the identification informationof the user of the host terminal 20.

If they do not match (NO at Operation S203), the process proceeds toOperation S204. On the other hand, if they match (YES at OperationS203), the process proceeds to Operation S205.

At Operation S204, the mention processor 250 refers to the talk roominformation 260, replaces the identification information of thedestination user of the mention included in the content with the displayname of the user, and proceeds to Operation S207.

FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display on theterminal when displaying at Operation S204 the display name of the useras replacement identification information when the destination user of amention is not the user of the host terminal 20. For example, on theterminal 20C, when the display name of the user associated with the userID “aaa” is “ARISADA”, the identification information of the userincluded in the content may be replaced with “ARISADA” to be displayedin a display area 511.

The process at Operation S204 may be executed when displaying thementioned content in the talk room screen, not when receiving thecontent. In some example embodiments, when the contents displayed on thetalk room screen are moved, for example, by a scroll operation, theprocess at Operation S204 may be executed for mentioned contents whoselocations in chronological order are within a predetermined (oralternatively desired) range from the currently displayed content. Thisenables to alleviate the load on the terminal 20, for example, even whena large number of mentioned contents are received in a short period oftime, and enables smooth displaying on the terminal 20.

At Operation S205, the mention processor 250 may refer to the talk roominformation 260, and replace the identification information of thedestination user of the mention included in the content with theregistered name of the user.

FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display on theterminal when displaying at Operation S205 the display name of the useras replacement identification information when the destination user of amention is the user of the host terminal 20. For example, on theterminal 20B, when the registered name of the user associated with theuser ID “aaa” is “arisada”, the identification information of the userincluded in the content may be replaced with “arisada” to be displayedin a display area 512.

At Operation S206, the mention processor 250 may determine the displaymode of the content.

When the destination user of the mention is the user of the terminal 20,the mentioned content may be displayed in a display mode different fromthe display mode of the other contents by, for example, changing thecolor and/or size of a balloon (display area of a message), enlargingthe character size, displaying the characters in bold letters and/oritalics, adding marks and/or stamps, or adding a predetermined (oralternatively desired) animation (motion).

In this case, as a predetermined (or alternatively desired) animation(motion), for example, the following motions may be adopted whendisplaying the content.

-   -   motion of enlarging the size of the content, and then, reducing        it to the original size.    -   motion of displaying the content on the full screen, and then,        reducing it to the same or substantially similar size to the        other contents.    -   motion of displaying the content in a color different from the        other contents, and then displaying the content in the same        color as the other contents.    -   motion of gradually changing the transmittance of the content.    -   motion of vibrating the content.

This enables to highlight the mentioned content when displaying comparedwith the other contents, so as to be easily recognizable by the user.

In the example in FIG. 9B, the color of the content display area 512,which is a balloon, is changed from white to another color.

At Operation S207, the mention processor 250 may display the mentionedcontent.

Thus, it becomes possible for a predetermined (or alternatively desired)user included in the group to view (or visually recognize) apredetermined (or alternatively desired) content with relative ease whencontents are transmitted and received in a group including multipleusers.

Second Example Embodiment

The second example embodiment has a form in which in a talk roomincluding multiple users, a user designated as the destination user of amention is allowed to view contents that have been transmitted andreceived.

The matter described in the second example embodiment can be applied toany of the other example embodiments.

Because the second embodiment is the same as or substantially similar tothe first example embodiment except for some features, repetitivedescriptions of the overlapping features will be omitted. In thefollowing, a process in a communication system 1 according to the secondexample embodiment will be described in detail focusing on differencesfrom the first example embodiment.

<Processes>

Next, with reference to FIG. 10, processes in the communication system 1according to the second example embodiment will be described. FIG. 10 isa diagram illustrating an example of a sequence of processes executed inthe communication system 1 according to the second example embodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates an operation sequence in the case where contents aretransmitted and received by using a messaging service of an SNS in atalk room including multiple users A, B, and C, and the mentionedcontents are used.

In the following description, assume that the user A, the user B, andthe user C use the terminal 20A, the terminal 20B, and the terminal 20,respectively.

At Operation S10, in the talk room including multiple users A, B and C,contents are transmitted and received by using the messaging service ofthe SNS.

At Operation S11, the receiver 230 of the terminal 20A may receive anoperation to select content that has been transmitted and received inthe talk room from the user A.

At Operation S12, the receiver 230 of the terminal 20A may receive anoperation to activate the mention function from the user A.

At Operation S13, the candidate processor 220 of the terminal 20A maydisplay candidates for the destination user of the mention from amongthe users included in the talk room.

At Operation S14, the receiver 230 of the terminal 20A may receive anoperation to select the user B from among the candidates as thedesignation user of the mention from the user A.

At Operation S15, the receiver 230 of the terminal 20A may receive anoperation to transmit the mentioned content from the user A.

At Operation S16, the communicator 240 of the terminal 20A may transmitthe mentioned content to the terminal 20B of the destination user viathe server 10.

At Operation S17, because the user B is designated as the destinationuser of the mention, the mention processor 250 of the terminal 20B maydisplay the transmitted and received content associated with thereceived mentioned content in a mode different from the mode of theother contents on the screen of the talk room.

<<Processes Executed by Terminal 20 as a Transmitting Side forTransmitting Mentioned Content>>

Next, with reference to FIG. 11, processes (e.g., Operations S10 to S15in FIG. 10) executed by the terminal 20 when transmitting the mentionedcontent will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating anexample of processes executed by the terminal 20 when transmitting thementioned content according to the second example embodiment. Note thatOperations S301 to S306 are the same as or substantially similar to theprocess at Operations S101 to S106 in FIG. 3 in the first exampleembodiment.

At Operation S300, the receiver 230 receives an operation to selectcontent transmitted and received in the talk room. Note that there maybe a case where the terminal 20 that is to receive a mentioned contentdoes not store the content corresponding to the mentioned content, forexample, due to a model change or the like. Therefore, contentsselectable at Operation S300 may be restricted to those that weretransmitted and received within a predetermined (or alternativelydesired) period (e.g., two weeks). In this case, if the terminal 20(e.g., 20B) on the receiving side of the mentioned content does notstore the content corresponding to the mentioned content, the terminal20 (e.g., 20C) may use, for example, the identification information(message ID) of the received content to obtain again the contentcorresponding to the mentioned content from the server 10, or may obtainthe content corresponding to the mentioned content from the terminal 20(e.g., 20A) on the transmitting side.

At Operation S301, the receiver 230 may receive an operation to startselecting a user as the destination of the mention.

At Operation S302, the candidate processor 220 may determine whether ornot a character string has been input.

If no character string has been input (NO at Operation S302), theprocess may proceed to Operation S303. On the other hand, when acharacter string has been input (YES at Operation S302), the process mayproceed to Operation S304.

At Operation S303, the candidate processor 220 may refer to the talkroom information 260 to display the users included in the talk room ascandidates for the destination user of the mention, and proceed to aprocess of Operation S306, which will be described later.

At Operation S304, based on the input character string, the candidateprocessor 220 may search in the talk room information 260 for candidatesfor the destination user of the mention.

At Operation S305, the candidate processor 220 may display a list ofcandidates for the destination user as the search result.

At Operation S306, the mention processor 250 may determine whether ornot an operation to select a user as the destination of the mention hasbeen received.

If an operation to select a user as the destination of the mention hasbeen received (YES at Operation S306), the process may proceed toOperation S307. On the other hand, if an operation to select a user asthe destination of the mention has not been received (NO at OperationS306), the process may be terminated.

At Operation S307, in response to the operation receiving an operationto transmit the mentioned content, the communicator 240 may transmit theidentification information of the content selected at Operation S301,the identification information of the destination user of the mention,and metadata representing that the content is mentioned to the terminal20 (e.g., 20C) of the destination user of the mention included in thetalk room via the server 10.

<<Processes Executed by the Terminal 20 for Receiving MentionedContent>>

Next, with reference to FIG. 12, FIG. 13A, and FIG. 13B, processesexecuted by the terminal 20 at Operation S17 in FIG. 10 when displayingthe received mentioned content will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchartillustrating an example of the processes executed by the terminal 20when receiving the mentioned content according to the second exampleembodiment. FIGS. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating other examplesof screen displays on the terminal when displaying a received mentionedcontent.

At Operation S401, the mention processor 250 may receive data in thetalk room.

At Operation S402, the mention processor 250 may determine whether ornot metadata representing that the content has been mentioned is addedto the received data.

If added (YES at Operation S402), the process may proceed to OperationS403. On the other hand, if not added (NO at Operation S402), theprocess may be terminated.

At Operation S403, the mention processor 250 may determine whether ornot the identification information of the destination user of themention included in the received content matches the identificationinformation of the user of the host terminal 20.

If the result of the determining operation of Operation S403 indicatesmatching (YES at Operation S403), the process may proceeds to OperationS404. On the other hand, if the result of the determining operation ofOperation S403 indicates no matching (NO at Operation S403), the processmay be terminated.

At Operation S404, the mention processor 250 may search in the talk roomfor content corresponding to the identification information of thecontent included in the received data.

At Operation S405, the mention processor 250 may determine the displaymode of the found content.

At Operation S406, the mention processor 250 displays the found contentin the determined display mode.

FIG. 13A illustrates an example in the case where a mark 602 indicatingthat the content has been mentioned is added to a display area 601 ofthe content found at Operation S406.

FIG. 13B illustrates an example in the case where a display area 603 ofthe content found at Operation S406 is displayed in a color differentfrom the color of the other contents and a mark of a user icon 604 ofthe destination user is added.

In this case, the terminal 20 that has received the mentioned contentmay display the mentioned content, for example, as the first contentwhen the screen of the talk room is opened after having received themention.

Third Modified Example

In a third modified example, an additional content is transmitted andreceived in association with content that has been mentioned on aterminal 20 on the transmitting side of the mentioned content or aterminal 20 on the receiving side of the mentioned content.

The terminal 20 on the transmitting side of the mentioned content or theterminal 20 on the receiving side of the mentioned content transmits andreceives an additional content input by the user in association with theidentification information of the mentioned content, respectively.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of anadditional content. In the example in FIG. 14, an additional contentdisplay area 605 is displayed in association with the content displayarea 603. This enables the user on the transmitting side of thementioned content or the user on the receiving side of the mentionedcontent, to display (1) information that the user wants to notify whenthe content is viewed, or (2) a reply after having viewed the content inassociation with the content.

Fourth Modified Example

In a fourth modified example, when a predetermined (or alternativelydesired) operation is received from the user on the terminal 20, onlycontents mentioned to the user of the host terminal 20 as thedestination user are displayed (applied with filtering).

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen appliedwith filtering. In the example in FIG. 15, among contents transmittedand received in the talk room, only contents 606 and 607 mentioned tothe user of the host terminal 20 as the destination user are displayed.Note that in this case, the additional content according to the thirdmodified example described above may be displayed in association withthe contents that have been mentioned.

<Other>

The candidate processor 220 may cause to a display operation on a firstdisplay area of the display area of the terminal 20. The communicator240 may include a transmitter. The mention processor 250 may cause adisplay operation on a second display area of the display area of theterminal 20.

A recording medium storing a program code of software that implementsfunctions of the example embodiments described above may be supplied tothe terminal 20 and the server 10. Furthermore, it is needless to saythat the example embodiments described above can be implemented by theterminal 20 and the server 10 that are capable of reading the programcode stored in the recording medium, and executing the program code. Insome example embodiments, a program that when executed, causes theterminal 20 and the server 10 to execute an information processingmethod described above may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium.

At least a portion of the processes executed on the terminal 20 and theserver 10 may be implemented by cloud computing constituted with one ormore computers.

In some example embodiments, at least a portion of the processesexecuted on the terminal 20 may be executed on the server 10. Forexample, the candidate processor 220 and the mention processor 250 ofthe terminal 20 may be provided on the server 10, to cause the terminal20 to display a result processed by the server 10.

The present inventive concepts have been described with reference to thedrawings and example embodiments. Note that a person skilled in the artcan easily make various transformations and modifications based on thepresent disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that transformationsand modifications are within in the scope of the present inventiveconcepts. For example, the functions or the like included in functionalunits, steps, and the like are relocatable as long as not introducinglogical contradiction, and multiple functional units, steps, and thelike can be combined into one entity, or can be further divided. Also,the elements described in the respective example embodiments may beappropriately combined.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display method executed by a terminal that isconfigured to transmit and receive a message with a plurality ofterminals, the plurality of terminals including at least a firstterminal of a first user and a second terminal of a second user, a userof the terminal, the first user, and the second user being differentfrom each other, the display method comprising: setting, by using aprocessor of the terminal, a first name of the first user by the user ofthe terminal, the first name set by the user of the terminal beingdifferent from a second name of the first user set by the first user;displaying, by using the processor of the terminal, at least the firstname and a name of the second user in a display area of the terminal, inresponse to a first input being inputted into the terminal; deleting, byusing the processor of the terminal, the displayed name of the seconduser being different from the first name of the first user from thedisplay area of the terminal based on a second input constituting atleast a portion of the set first name being inputted into the terminal;displaying, by using the processor of the terminal, first informationrepresenting that a first message is directed to the first user, inresponse to the user of the terminal selecting the first usercorresponding to the displayed first name; and transmitting, by usingthe processor of the terminal, the first message including the firstinformation to the plurality of terminals.
 2. The display method asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising: deleting, by using the processorof the terminal, the displayed name of the second user based on a thirdinput corresponding to at least a portion of the second name beinginputted into the terminal, the displayed name of the second user beingdifferent from the second name of the first user.
 3. The display methodas claimed in claim 1, further comprising: displaying, by using theprocessor of the terminal, a second message including second informationin the display area of the terminal based on the terminal receiving thesecond message including the second information, the second informationrepresenting that the second message transmitted from the first terminalis directed to the user of the terminal.
 4. The display method asclaimed in claim 3, further comprising: setting, by using the processorof the terminal, a third name of the user of the terminal on theterminal; and receiving, by using the processor of the terminal, thesecond message including the second information based on a fourth inputconstituting at least a portion of the third name being inputted intothe first terminal.
 5. The display method as claimed in claim 3, furthercomprising: displaying, by using the processor of the terminal, thesecond message including the second information transmitted from thefirst terminal in the display area of the terminal in a display modedifferent from a display mode of a message that has been inputted by thefirst user of the first terminal and transmitted from the first terminalto the terminal, and that does not include the second information. 6.The display method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the name of the seconduser is a user name set by the second user.
 7. The display method asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the first message including the firstinformation further includes character information input by the user ofthe terminal.
 8. The display method as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising: displaying, by using the processor of the terminal, messagestransmitted from the plurality of terminals and the first messageincluding the first information transmitted from the terminal in thedisplay area in chronological order.
 9. The display method as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising: displaying, by using the processor of theterminal, the first name and a first image related to the first user inthe display area of the terminal based on the first input being inputtedinto the terminal; and displaying, by using the processor of theterminal, the name of the second user and a second image related to thesecond user in the display area of the terminal.
 10. The display methodas claimed in claim 1, wherein the first input is an input of a sign,and the second input is an input of a character string corresponding toa portion of the first name.
 11. The display method as claimed in claim1, wherein the first message including the first information istransmitted to the plurality of terminals via a server.
 12. The displaymethod according to claim 1, wherein the second name is a registeredname in a social networking service by the first user.
 13. The displaymethod as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: displaying, by usingthe processor of the terminal, at least (i) the first name or (ii) thesecond name and the name of the second user in the display area of theterminal, in response to a first input being inputted into the terminal;deleting, by using the processor of the terminal, (i) the displayed nameof the second user from the display area of the terminal based on thename of the second and the second input constituting at least a portionof the first name, when the second input into the terminal is inputtedby the user and (ii) the displayed name of the second user from thedisplay area of the terminal based on the name of the second user and athird input constituting at least a portion of the second name, when thethird input into the terminal is inputted by the user of the terminal;and displaying, by using the processor of the terminal, firstinformation representing that the first message is directed to the firstuser, in response to a user of the terminal selecting the firstcorresponding the first name and the second name.
 14. The display methodas claimed in claim 1, wherein (i) the first message including the firstinformation is displayed as a message at least including the first nameon the display area of the terminal, when the second input is inputtedinto the terminal and the first user is selected and (ii) the firstmessage including the first information is displayed as a message atleast including the second name on a display area of the first terminal,when a third input is inputted into the terminal and the first user isselected.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium havinga program stored therein for causing a terminal that is configured totransmit and receive a message with a plurality of terminals, theplurality of terminals including at least a first terminal of a firstuser and a second terminal of a second user, a user of the terminal, thefirst user, and the second user being different from each other, toexecute a display method, the method comprising: setting, by using aprocessor of the terminal, a first name of the first user by the user ofthe terminal, the first name set by the user of the terminal beingdifferent from a second name of the first user set by the first user;displaying, by using the processor of the terminal, at least the firstname and a name of the second user in a display area of the terminal, inresponse to a first input being inputted into the terminal; deleting, byusing the processor of the terminal, the displayed name of the seconduser being different from the first name of the first user from thedisplay area of the terminal based on a second input constituting atleast a portion of the first name being inputted into the terminal;displaying, by using the processor of the terminal, first informationrepresenting that a first message is directed to the first user, inresponse to the user of the first terminal selecting the first usercorresponding to the displayed first name; and transmitting, by usingthe processor of the terminal, the first message including the firstinformation to the plurality of terminals.
 16. The medium as claimed inclaim 15, wherein the display method further comprises: deleting thedisplayed name of the second user based on a third input correspondingto at least a portion of the second name being inputted into theterminal, the displayed name of the second user being different from thesecond name of the first user.
 17. The medium as claimed in claim 15,wherein the display method further comprises: displaying a secondmessage including second information in the display area of the terminalbased on the terminal receiving the second message including the secondinformation, the second information representing that the second messagetransmitted from the first terminal is directed to the user of theterminal.
 18. The medium as claimed in claim 17, wherein the displaymethod further comprises: setting a third name of the user of theterminal on the terminal; and receiving the second message including thesecond information based on a fourth input constituting at least aportion of the third name being inputted into the first terminal. 19.The medium as claimed in claim 17, wherein the display method furthercomprises: displaying the second message including the secondinformation transmitted from the first terminal in the display area ofthe terminal in a display mode different from a display mode of amessage that has been input by the first user of the first terminal andtransmitted from the first terminal to the terminal, and that does notinclude the second information.
 20. The medium as claimed in claim 15,wherein the name of the second user is a user name set by the seconduser.
 21. The medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first messageincluding the first information further includes character informationinputted by the user of the terminal.
 22. The medium as claimed in claim15, wherein the display method further comprises: displaying a messagetransmitted from each of the plurality of terminals and the firstmessage including the first information transmitted from the terminal inthe display area in chronological order.
 23. The medium as claimed inclaim 15, wherein the display method further comprises: displaying thefirst name that has been set and a first image related to the first userin the display area of the terminal based on the first input beinginputted into the terminal; and displaying the name of the second userand a second image related to the second user in the display area of theterminal.
 24. The medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first inputis an input of a sign, and the second input is an input of a characterstring corresponding to a portion of the first name.
 25. The medium asclaimed in claim 15, wherein the first message including the firstinformation is transmitted to the plurality of terminals via a server.26. The medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein the second name is aregistered name in a social networking service by the first user. 27.The medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein the display method furthercomprises: displaying, by using the processor of the terminal, at least(i) the first name or (ii) the second name and the name of the seconduser in the display area of the terminal, in response to a first inputbeing inputted into the terminal; deleting, by using the processor ofthe terminal, (i) the displayed name of the second user from the displayarea of the terminal based on the name of the second user and the secondinput constituting at least a portion of the first name, when the secondinput into the terminal is inputted by the user and (ii) the displayedname of the second user from the display area of the terminal based onthe name of the second user and a third input constituting at least aportion of the second name, when the third input into the terminal isinputted by the user of the terminal; and displaying, by using theprocessor of the terminal, first information representing that a firstmessage is directed to the first user, in response to a user of theterminal selecting the first user corresponding the first name and thesecond name.
 28. The medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein (i) thefirst message including the first information is displayed as a messageat least including the first name on the display area of the terminal,when the second input is inputted into the terminal and the first useris selected and (ii) the first message including the first informationis displayed as a message at least including the second name on adisplay area of the first terminal, when a third input is inputted intothe terminal and the first user is selected.